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Annuity Sales Just Hit an All-Time Record
- October 23, 2026
- Posted by: August
- Category: Retirement Income
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Total U.S. annuity sales reached $123.9 billion in the second quarter of 2026 — a new all-time quarterly record and the 11th consecutive quarter above $100 billion. Sales rose 4% year over year, with year-to-date totals of $231.3 billion setting a new first-half record as well. The quarter was driven by a convergence of forces: global tensions, market volatility, and rising interest rates that pushed demand across nearly every product category simultaneously. Registered index-linked annuities set their own quarterly record at $23.3 billion. Fixed-rate deferred annuities surged 26% from the first quarter as crediting rates climbed. Income annuities — the most direct expression of guaranteed lifetime income demand — also reached a record, with single premium immediate annuity sales hitting $4.0 billion. The breadth of the growth is significant: this was not a single-product story. It was a market-wide shift toward protection, income, and certainty at a moment when the economic environment made all three feel more urgent than ever.
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Retirees Have the Savings. They Just Won’t Spend It.
- October 11, 2026
- Posted by: August
- Category: Retirement Insights
Prudential Financial’s 2026 Retirement Pulse survey, conducted in late July and early August among a nationally representative sample, reveals a retirement challenge that has received far less attention than the savings gap: most retirees don’t feel free to spend what they’ve accumulated. Eighty-six percent of respondents say they don’t feel entirely free to spend their savings on things they enjoy. Only 16% have a withdrawal strategy. Two-thirds say they would choose a guaranteed monthly check for life over a lump sum. And those who have or expect to use a pension, annuity, or guaranteed income in retirement are 43% more likely to feel they have permission to enjoy their savings. The survey identifies this as the “license to spend” problem — a psychological barrier rooted in the fear of running out that keeps retirees from using what they worked decades to build. Guaranteed income, the research finds, is the most direct solution — not because it changes the math, but because it changes the mindset.
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What Annuity Owners Actually Experience in Retirement
- September 29, 2026
- Posted by: August
- Category: Retirement Income
A new survey conducted by BlackRock and Greenwald Research asked more than 1,000 annuity owners aged 60 and older what guaranteed lifetime income actually does for them in retirement. The results are striking: 97% say their annuity helps them worry less about running out of money. 93% say it helps them worry less about day-to-day expenses. 88% say it eases worry about a stock market downturn. And 85% of retired Baby Boomers say lifetime income made a bigger difference in retirement than they expected. Beyond financial security, the research surfaces a dimension rarely discussed in retirement planning conversations: annuities reduce vulnerability to financial fraud. 84% of annuity owners say their annuity makes them less susceptible to financial exploitation and poor financial decisions as they age — a protection that becomes increasingly important as cognitive capacity can change with time. The survey also finds that 88% of annuity owners believe every retiree’s portfolio should include at least some guaranteed lifetime income, and 89% of retirees say they wish they had been given access to guaranteed income through their workplace plan.
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Annuities Outperform Withdrawal Strategies. The Research Is Clear.
- September 9, 2026
- Posted by: August
- Category: Retirement Income
A new study by economists Gaobo Pang and Mark Warshawsky stress-tests four major retirement income strategies — pure systematic withdrawals, full annuitization, and two forms of partial annuitization — across a wide range of wealth levels, health statuses, risk preferences, and market conditions. The verdict is unambiguous: partial annuitization outperforms in nearly every scenario tested. Pure withdrawal strategies preserve flexibility but expose retirees to longevity risk and sequence-of-returns risk that significantly threatens long-term income security. Full annuitization maximizes income stability but eliminates liquidity and bequest potential. Partial annuitization — converting a meaningful portion of savings into guaranteed lifetime income while keeping the remainder invested — captures the advantages of both without the primary drawbacks of either. The study also finds that SECURE 2.0 has removed a key tax disadvantage that previously penalized partial annuitization, and that delaying Social Security to age 70 improves outcomes across every income strategy tested. For the millions of Americans retiring without a pension, the research offers a clear framework for building retirement income that lasts.
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The 401(k) Is Not Delivering. Employers Are Starting to Admit It
- August 20, 2026
- Posted by: August
- Category: Industry Trends
A new survey of 547 U.S. defined contribution plan sponsors from WTW finds that employers increasingly value their retirement plans — but many cannot demonstrate whether those plans are actually helping employees retire on time and with financial confidence. Only 60% of plan sponsors have even a working definition of retirement readiness, and the definitions they use vary widely: income replacement, retiring on time, and retirement confidence each cited by roughly 40% of sponsors. The result is what WTW calls a retirement outcomes gap — a structural mismatch between what employers expect their DC plans to deliver and what those plans were built to do. Three in four employers rank retirement savings as a core or top priority in their total rewards offering. Yet many plans are still governed, measured, and delivered for an era when accumulation was the goal. As the first generation to retire largely without pensions moves through the system, the pressure to prove plans work is mounting — and the solutions increasingly point toward guaranteed lifetime income as the missing link.
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Most Pre-Retirees Think About Income. Few Have a Plan for It
- August 14, 2026
- Posted by: August
- Category: Retirement Income
New research from LIMRA’s Retirement Income Readiness Report finds that 88% of pre-retirees have thought about how they will generate income in retirement — yet 50% lack a meaningful or recently updated written plan, and only 40% work with a financial advisor. The result is a retirement confidence gap that savings alone will not close. The study, which surveyed 486 pre-retirees and 804 retirees aged 45 and older, finds that only 1 in 4 pre-retirees believe their protected lifetime income sources will cover their essential expenses in retirement. By contrast, 78% of pre-retirees who already have a pension or annuity report high retirement preparedness — compared to just 50% of those without either. Three-quarters of pre-retirees say they want to learn more about protected lifetime income options. The findings make a clear case: thinking about retirement income is not the same as planning for it, and the gap between the two is where retirement security is most at risk.
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Three in Four Workers Fear Retirement Will Be Less Secure Than Their Parents
- July 24, 2026
- Posted by: August
- Category: Retirement Income
BlackRock’s 2026 Read on Retirement survey of 1,312 workplace savers finds that 76% believe their generation will have less certainty about retirement income than previous generations — a survey-series high, up from 67% in 2021. Nearly two-thirds worry about outliving their savings, and the data shows broad demand for guaranteed income, active management, and personalized guidance. At the same time, a Morningstar report finds that assets in target-date funds with embedded annuity options grew 70% year over year to $44 billion by the end of the first quarter of 2026 — still less than 1% of the $4.8 trillion target-date universe, but growing fast. Major firms including BlackRock, Vanguard, Fidelity, JPMorgan Asset Management, and TIAA are all expanding annuity-style products within 401(k) plans, responding to what retirement industry leaders describe as a pivotal shift from exploration to execution. A notable gap also emerged: women are 44% less likely than men to adopt guaranteed income solutions despite living longer and facing greater longevity risk.
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The Case Against Annuities Doesn’t Hold Up. Here’s the Research
- July 12, 2026
- Posted by: August
- Category: Industry Trends
A working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that most people buy far fewer annuities than economic models suggest they should — and that the common objections used to explain this gap do not hold up under scrutiny. The research examines the standard arguments against annuities: fees, loss of liquidity, bequest motives, and the idea that Social Security already provides enough guaranteed income. It finds that while these objections sound reasonable in the abstract, they apply only to a narrow subset of retirees and require a level of financial sophistication to evaluate that most people do not have. The real barrier to annuity adoption, the paper concludes, is not that the products are unsuitable — it is that the systems and conversations through which people encounter them are poorly designed. Better institutional framing, smarter defaults, and clearer guidance at the point of decision are more likely to close the gap than any amount of financial education delivered in isolation.
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New Research Finds Annuities May Help Retirees Live Longer
- June 12, 2026
- Posted by: August
- Category: Retirement Income
A new academic study examining nearly 600,000 Chilean retirees over nearly two decades finds that annuities substantially reduce mortality — increasing longevity by 2.55% at five years and 3.62% at ten years compared to retirees who chose phased withdrawals. The researchers, affiliated with universities in Chile, Indiana, and Dartmouth, conclude that annuities reduce mortality by shielding retirees from income volatility and investment-related stress. Survey evidence from the study also finds that annuitants invest more in their health and report lower disability rates. Financial advisors familiar with the research say the findings align with what they observe in practice: clients with guaranteed lifetime income sleep better, spend more on health, and experience less financial anxiety than those managing a portfolio through market cycles. The study adds a compelling dimension to the case for guaranteed income — one that goes beyond financial planning and into quality of life.
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Partial Annuitization Can Outperform the 4% Withdrawal Rule
- May 24, 2026
- Posted by: August
- Category: Retirement Income
A new report from TIAA argues that partial annuitization — converting a portion of retirement savings into guaranteed lifetime income — can produce higher annual income in retirement than the 4% withdrawal rule alone. Using the example of a 67-year-old with $1 million in savings, TIAA illustrates that annuitizing one-third of assets while continuing to withdraw 4% from the remaining balance results in meaningfully more first-year income than applying the 4% rule to the full balance. The report also addresses the role annuities can play in helping retirees manage market volatility during the drawdown phase, providing a predictable income floor that is not affected by market swings. For individuals entering or already in retirement, the findings offer a practical framework for thinking about how to structure income rather than relying on withdrawals alone.
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